WASHINGTON - The U.S. made clear this week that it wants the International Monetary Fund to be the emergency lender for countries like Ukraine, but American lawmakers have persistently refused to give the IMF the additional financial firepower that it has sought. That tension was evident in meetings concluding this weekend of the IMF, the World Bank and representatives of the Group of 20 major economies: Washington's long delay in ratifying changes to the IMF's so-called quota system came under fire from finance ministers and other officials of many countries.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. made clear this week that it wants the International Monetary Fund to be the emergency lender for countries like Ukraine, but American lawmakers have persistently refused to give the IMF the additional financial firepower that it has sought. That tension was evident in meetings concluding this weekend of the IMF, the World Bank and representatives of the Group of 20 major economies: Washington's long delay in ratifying changes to the IMF's so-called quota system came under fire from finance ministers and other officials of many countries.

Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin and the leaders of Ukraine and Belarus on Sunday declared the Soviet Union dead and established a new "commonwealth of independent states" with the capital in Minsk, capital of Belarus, rather than Moscow. "We, the Republic of Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine, as the founding states of the U.S.S.R. and co-signatories of the 1922 Union Treaty . . . state that the U.S.S.R.

WASHINGTON - The top U.S. and Russian diplomats agreed Sunday to work with Ukrainian government officials to ease the crisis triggered by Russia's annexation of Crimea, but remained far apart on other key points after four hours of negotiations in Paris. Secretary of State John F. Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called the meeting constructive. Lavrov's remarks suggested that Moscow may now be more willing to work with the interim Ukrainian government, which it has previously dismissed as illegitimate.

June 17, 1992 | ALEX SHPRINTSEN and MICHAEL PARKS, SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

A coalition of Ukrainian nationalist and pro-democracy forces emerged here Tuesday to challenge President Leonid Kravchuk's government, ending his six-month political honeymoon with the country's opposition groups. Meeting after a boisterous rally of more than 3,000 miners, teachers and physicians in front of the Ukrainian Parliament, opposition leaders agreed on a petition drive for a referendum on dissolving the legislature, elected in 1990 in the waning years of Soviet rule.

The new Ukrainian government reached a preliminary accord Friday with the International Monetary Fund to launch market reforms in one of the weakest and most Communist economies of the former Soviet Union. The handshake agreement was the first clear sign that President Leonid Kuchma, who took office two months ago, is ready to move ahead with a promised economic overhaul in return for financial backing from the West.

The steady hum of detergent bottles being swept along an assembly line represents the sweet sound of earnings for S.C. Johnson Wax. After years of turmoil and uncertainty, the Wisconsin-based company has finally turned an early investment in Ukraine into a profitable business. Its Brillo detergent, for example, is now a household name here. "We've been very successful," says Boris Kuznetsov, manager of the Kiev plant of the 100% U.S-owned subsidiary.

Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev lashed back at the leaders of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus on Monday, declaring that they have no right to take it on themselves to dissolve the Soviet Union and denouncing their decision to terminate its laws as "illegal and dangerous."

Ukrainian President Leonid M. Kravchuk proposed Friday that Russia and neighboring Belarus join with his new nation to form a Slavic commonwealth as the old Soviet Union continues to disintegrate. Kravchuk, riding the crest of nationalism in Ukraine, which voted Sunday for independence, would bring together three of the 15 former Soviet republics in a loose confederation that could ensure that their economic ties remain intact.

Voters have given Ukrainian President Leonid D. Kuchma a strong mandate to expand his controls over an unruly parliament, but the vote alone does not ensure him a decisive victory in his power struggle with legislators. During a weekend referendum, voters overwhelmingly approved four Kuchma proposals that would alter parliament. However, the proposals still require approval of parliament itself, and if it is withheld, a deep political crisis could ensue.

February 24, 2014 | By Sergei L. Loiko, This post has been updated. See the note below for details.

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine's interim government has issued an arrest warrant for ousted President Viktor Yanukovich, who is wanted in connection with the deaths of protesters in Kiev's main square last week, acting Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said in a post published on his Facebook page. “A criminal case has been initiated into mass murders of peaceful civilians,” Avakov wrote. “A warrant has been issued for the apprehension of Yanukovich and a number of other officials.” Yanukovich's movements in the last few days have been traced from Kiev to the Crimean Peninsula, Avakov said.

August 5, 2006 | David Holley and Victoria Butenko, Special to The Times

Viktor Yanukovich, the humiliated loser a year and a half ago when Orange Revolution protests forced a presidential runoff election to be repeated, completed a remarkable political comeback Friday by becoming Ukraine's prime minister. Yanukovich declared that he intended to govern as a partner with President Viktor Yushchenko, his 2004 rival.

MOSCOW -- Beleaguered Ukrainian President Leonid D. Kuchma, accused by the U.S. of approving the sale of early warning radar to Iraq, on Saturday fired his country's prime minister and government. Kuchma has been embroiled in successive political scandals in recent years. His decision to replace the prime minister, Anatoly Kinakh, with a tough regional governor was seen by analysts as an effort to stave off his current political problems and regain control.

The United States has granted political asylum to a fugitive Ukrainian security officer who accused President Leonid D. Kuchma of involvement in the killing of a critical journalist, and to the journalist's wife, the Foreign Ministry said Saturday. A Foreign Ministry statement said the asylum for Maj. Mykola Melnichenko amounted to sheltering a man suspected of causing significant damage to national security. "The U.S. side's decision . . .

Thousands of Ukrainian Communist Party members marched Thursday through this capital, adding their voices to calls for the resignation of beleaguered President Leonid D. Kuchma. A coalition of nationalists, socialists and human rights activists has been pressing for Kuchma to step down after his alleged involvement in the murder of journalist and frequent critic Georgi Gongadze. Kuchma denies the allegations.

When Myroslava Gongadze asked prosecutors to display her slain husband's hands so that she could identify his headless body, they tipped a pile of small bones onto the table. For 25 days prosecutors had refused her demands to see the body of Georgi Gongadze, an Internet journalist and government critic whose death has caused the biggest political scandal here since Ukraine won independence a decade ago. He disappeared Sept.

President Leonid D. Kuchma secured a high-profile endorsement from U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on Friday ahead of his bid to win extended powers at the expense of the Ukrainian parliament in a weekend referendum. Albright told reporters as she arrived for a one-day visit that Kuchma's reelection last November offered hope to the nation. "Ukraine . . .

Thousands of people, including children in wheelchairs and widows holding black-banded portraits of their husbands, paraded down this city's central boulevard Sunday demanding that the government maintain pensions and subsidies for victims of the world's worst nuclear accident, at Chernobyl.

Thousands of people, including children in wheelchairs and widows holding black-banded portraits of their husbands, paraded down this city's central boulevard Sunday demanding that the government maintain pensions and subsidies for victims of the world's worst nuclear accident, at Chernobyl.

Voters have given Ukrainian President Leonid D. Kuchma a strong mandate to expand his controls over an unruly parliament, but the vote alone does not ensure him a decisive victory in his power struggle with legislators. During a weekend referendum, voters overwhelmingly approved four Kuchma proposals that would alter parliament. However, the proposals still require approval of parliament itself, and if it is withheld, a deep political crisis could ensue.